Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman provides four postgame injury updates following Louisville

The bye week comes at the right time for the Notre Dame football program. During the No. 16 Fighting Irish’s 31-24 victory over No. 15 Louisville, multiple players sustained injuries that prevented them from returning to the game.

In coach Marcus Freeman’s postgame news conference, he provided injury updates on the following players: cornerback Christian Gray, quarterback Riley Leonard, left guard Sam Pendleton and vyper Boubacar Traore.

Christian Gray injury update

Despite being in full uniform and the Irish being down a cornerback following junior Jaden Mickey’s departure, Gray did not participate against the Cardinals. Afterward, Freeman said they decided to rule out Gray pregame.

“Christian was going to try to go,” Freeman said. “He had a shoulder sprain and was going to try to go.  Thought he was going to be able to go. 

“After the pregame warmup just wasn’t ready. (He) wasn’t going to be able to get the job done that we needed. We went to Leonard (Moore), and we have a lot of confidence in Leonard and he played really well.”

Moore, a freshman, made his first career start and finished with a team-high 7 tackles, 6 of which were solo stops. Freeman did not provide a timeline for Gray’s return.

Riley Leonard injury update

At various points during Saturday’s game, Leonard came up wincing. One time, it happened after a 2-yard rush with 4:19 remaining in the fourth quarter, causing Freeman to call a timeout.

“I think he might have got kneed in his thigh or something like that,” Freeman said. “I don’t know exactly what it was. He said I’m good to go. I want the ball in my hands.”

Earlier in the game, at 12:11 in the second quarter, Leonard remained down on the field after a 2-yard carry. Afterward, he said he had the wind knocked out of him. Junior quarterback Steve Angeli replaced him for one play.

“The play I went out, I got the wind knocked out of me, which is kind of soft,” Leonard said. “Like, as we were saying that now, ‘You gotta go out for a play, got the wind knocked out of you.’ But like, ‘Hey, that was terrible. Like, I couldn’t breathe.’

“So yeah, it was really no problem after a couple of minutes. But yeah, it’s a bad feeling getting that wind knocked out of you.”

Leonard completed the game 17-23 for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns and had 13 carries for 52 yards and another score.

“He’s banged up,” Freeman said. “We ran him. We knew we were going to have to run him. Tough, tough guy. He is tough. Sacrifices his body. …”It’s the competitor he is. He’s a tough, tough person, man.”

Sam Pendleton injury update

On the second-to-last offensive drives, sophomore Sullivan Absher replaced Pendleton at left guard. Freeman said that the decision was injury-related and not a coaching one.

“No, that was an injury decision with Sam,” Freeman said. “He got, I think, rolled up on or something like that.”

The Irish were already down three starting offensive linemen entering Week 5: left tackle Charles Jagusah (pectoral), center Ashton Craig (knee) and right guard Billy Schrauth (ankle). It is unclear if Pendleton returned to the game for the victory formation. Jagusah and Craig are already out for the season; Schrauth hopes to return later in the year.

Boubacar Traore injury update

Notre Dame is already playing without its starting vyper after Jordan Botelho sustained a season-ending knee injury against Purdue. With 1:13 left in the first quarter, the Irish lost his replacement, Traore, due to a non-contact injury. He did not return to the game.

“Lower leg, knee injury I think,” Freeman said. “(I) don’t know. They just told me he was out for the game.  Hopefully, I’ll have more information here soon.”

Traore had a tackle for loss before being ruled out for the remainder of the game.

FINAL STATS: NOTRE DAME 31, LOUISVILLE 24